Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and United States

Fertility rate in North Korea vs United States chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in North Korea was 1.78 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.62 in the United States in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs the United States population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	North Korea	United States
1960	3.57	3.65
1961	3.26	3.62
1962	3.41	3.46
1963	3.63	3.32
1964	3.55	3.19
1965	3.56	2.91
1966	3.71	2.72
1967	4.05	2.56
1968	3.87	2.46
1969	3.86	2.46
1970	3.85	2.48
1971	3.74	2.27
1972	3.89	2.01
1973	3.35	1.88
1974	3.14	1.84
1975	3.05	1.77
1976	2.84	1.74
1977	2.77	1.79
1978	2.79	1.76
1979	2.85	1.81
1980	2.84	1.84
1981	2.92	1.81
1982	2.85	1.83
1983	2.78	1.8
1984	2.71	1.81
1985	2.65	1.84
1986	2.59	1.84
1987	2.53	1.87
1988	2.47	1.93
1989	2.41	2.01
1990	2.39	2.08
1991	2.35	2.06
1992	2.29	2.05
1993	2.22	2.02
1994	2.18	2
1995	2.15	1.98
1996	2.09	1.98
1997	2.03	1.97
1998	1.99	2
1999	1.97	2.01
2000	1.94	2.06
2001	1.94	2.03
2002	1.92	2.02
2003	1.91	2.05
2004	1.9	2.05
2005	1.87	2.06
2006	1.94	2.11
2007	1.94	2.12
2008	1.97	2.07
2009	1.91	2
2010	1.89	1.93
2011	1.88	1.89
2012	1.88	1.88
2013	1.88	1.86
2014	1.87	1.86
2015	1.86	1.84
2016	1.86	1.82
2017	1.85	1.77
2018	1.83	1.73
2019	1.83	1.71
2020	1.82	1.64
2021	1.81	1.66
2022	1.8	1.66
2023	1.78	1.62
2024	1.78	1.62
2025	1.77	1.62
2026	1.75	1.62
2027	1.74	1.62
2028	1.73	1.62
2029	1.73	1.62
2030	1.72	1.62
2031	1.72	1.62
2032	1.71	1.62
2033	1.71	1.63
2034	1.71	1.62
2035	1.7	1.63
2036	1.7	1.63
2037	1.7	1.63
2038	1.69	1.63
2039	1.69	1.63
2040	1.69	1.63
2041	1.69	1.63
2042	1.69	1.63
2043	1.69	1.63
2044	1.68	1.63
2045	1.68	1.64
2046	1.68	1.64
2047	1.68	1.63
2048	1.67	1.64
2049	1.67	1.63
2050	1.67	1.64

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	United States
1960	37.5%	31.3%
1961	37%	31.4%
1962	36.6%	31.3%
1963	36.5%	31.1%
1964	36.6%	30.9%
1965	36.7%	30.7%
1966	37.3%	30.4%
1967	38.3%	30%
1968	39.2%	29.5%
1969	39.8%	29%
1970	40.1%	28.6%
1971	40.3%	28%
1972	40.2%	27.4%
1973	39.8%	26.6%
1974	39.3%	25.9%
1975	38.8%	25.2%
1976	38.3%	24.4%
1977	37.7%	23.8%
1978	36.9%	23.2%
1979	36%	22.8%
1980	35.1%	22.4%
1981	34.2%	22.1%
1982	33.1%	22%
1983	32%	21.8%
1984	30.9%	21.7%
1985	29.9%	21.5%
1986	29%	21.3%
1987	28%	21.3%
1988	27.3%	21.3%
1989	26.8%	21.5%
1990	26.5%	21.6%
1991	26.4%	21.7%
1992	26.3%	21.8%
1993	26.4%	21.9%
1994	26.4%	21.9%
1995	26.4%	21.8%
1996	26.3%	21.7%
1997	26.2%	21.5%
1998	26%	21.4%
1999	25.8%	21.3%
2000	25.6%	21.2%
2001	25.3%	21%
2002	25%	20.9%
2003	24.6%	20.7%
2004	24.3%	20.5%
2005	23.9%	20.3%
2006	23.4%	20.2%
2007	23%	20%
2008	22.5%	19.9%
2009	22.1%	19.8%
2010	21.6%	19.7%
2011	21.2%	19.6%
2012	20.8%	19.5%
2013	20.4%	19.4%
2014	20.1%	19.3%
2015	19.8%	19.2%
2016	19.6%	19.1%
2017	19.4%	18.9%
2018	19.2%	18.8%
2019	19.1%	18.6%
2020	19.1%	18.4%
2021	19.1%	18.1%
2022	19%	17.9%
2023	19%	17.6%
2024	18.9%	17.3%
2025	18.9%	17.1%
2026	18.9%	16.9%
2027	18.8%	16.7%
2028	18.7%	16.6%
2029	18.6%	16.4%
2030	18.5%	16.3%
2031	18.3%	16.1%
2032	18.1%	16%
2033	17.9%	16%
2034	17.6%	15.9%
2035	17.4%	15.9%
2036	17.1%	15.9%
2037	16.8%	15.9%
2038	16.6%	15.9%
2039	16.3%	15.9%
2040	16.1%	15.9%
2041	15.9%	16%
2042	15.7%	16%
2043	15.5%	16%
2044	15.4%	16%
2045	15.3%	16%
2046	15.2%	16%
2047	15.2%	16%
2048	15.2%	16%
2049	15.2%	15.9%
2050	15.2%	15.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 17.3% in the United States in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 21.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and the United States compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs United States by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +0.25% in the United States. The chart below illustrates the comparison of the absolute yearly changes resulting from births and deaths.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	North Korea	United States
1960	277,717	2,565,530
1961	257,788	2,571,681
1962	286,534	2,406,337
1963	321,805	2,289,826
1964	323,623	2,245,099
1965	335,587	1,943,030
1966	363,882	1,749,387
1967	414,632	1,669,181
1968	399,837	1,565,507
1969	404,189	1,702,487
1970	406,129	1,824,965
1971	393,220	1,640,519
1972	411,997	1,301,355
1973	338,600	1,165,499
1974	306,902	1,218,968
1975	288,966	1,252,644
1976	255,841	1,264,604
1977	242,870	1,431,556
1978	243,533	1,402,283
1979	251,409	1,597,894
1980	255,206	1,608,450
1981	273,800	1,652,153
1982	276,332	1,714,317
1983	279,046	1,636,544
1984	282,987	1,627,192
1985	287,714	1,689,258
1986	293,227	1,656,917
1987	296,030	1,720,252
1988	299,305	1,735,943
1989	303,078	1,875,826
1990	312,460	2,026,068
1991	320,551	1,926,543
1992	324,002	1,875,328
1993	320,880	1,717,685
1994	320,861	1,633,302
1995	233,381	1,546,031
1996	226,095	1,510,137
1997	211,325	1,501,014
1998	197,589	1,573,857
1999	181,613	1,564,050
2000	161,591	1,664,758
2001	143,321	1,595,826
2002	119,504	1,581,938
2003	178,775	1,653,615
2004	155,838	1,698,271
2005	132,765	1,684,445
2006	129,171	1,849,955
2007	120,521	1,897,757
2008	122,015	1,794,154
2009	111,530	1,717,920
2010	112,443	1,548,182
2011	114,798	1,441,697
2012	118,773	1,411,822
2013	122,519	1,322,711
2014	127,078	1,357,281
2015	127,365	1,270,126
2016	125,048	1,197,627
2017	120,181	1,028,037
2018	113,164	955,022
2019	106,208	887,476
2020	95,920	208,862
2021	99,710	199,137
2022	96,495	399,926
2023	86,203	502,372

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs United States

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 67 deaths per 100,000 live births in North Korea, compared to 17 deaths in the United States.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	United States
1985	76	11
1986	68	11
1987	62	11
1988	55	12
1989	49	12
1990	43	12
1991	38	12
1992	37	11
1993	46	12
1994	57	11
1995	127	12
1996	128	11
1997	128	11
1998	129	11
1999	129	12
2000	129	12
2001	130	13
2002	131	13
2003	76	13
2004	77	13
2005	78	13
2006	80	13
2007	80	13
2008	79	14
2009	78	15
2010	77	15
2011	76	15
2012	76	16
2013	75	16
2014	73	17
2015	72	17
2016	71	18
2017	70	18
2018	69	18
2019	66	18
2020	66	22
2021	72	31
2022	67	20
2023	67	17

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 0.65% in the United States. Below is the historical data on under-five mortality rates.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	North Korea	United States
1960	11.6%	3.01%
1961	11.2%	2.95%
1962	10.8%	2.89%
1963	10.4%	2.83%
1964	9.92%	2.77%
1965	9.46%	2.71%
1966	8.96%	2.64%
1967	8.45%	2.57%
1968	7.94%	2.49%
1969	7.45%	2.41%
1970	6.99%	2.32%
1971	6.58%	2.24%
1972	6.2%	2.15%
1973	5.86%	2.06%
1974	5.56%	1.97%
1975	5.28%	1.88%
1976	5.03%	1.79%
1977	4.8%	1.71%
1978	4.59%	1.63%
1979	4.4%	1.56%
1980	4.22%	1.5%
1981	4.05%	1.44%
1982	3.91%	1.39%
1983	3.8%	1.34%
1984	3.71%	1.3%
1985	3.68%	1.27%
1986	3.68%	1.24%
1987	3.78%	1.21%
1988	3.83%	1.19%
1989	3.95%	1.16%
1990	4.07%	1.12%
1991	4.18%	1.09%
1992	4.25%	1.05%
1993	4.27%	1.01%
1994	4.25%	0.98%
1995	10.8%	0.95%
1996	10.6%	0.92%
1997	10.5%	0.89%
1998	10.3%	0.87%
1999	10.2%	0.86%
2000	10%	0.84%
2001	9.9%	0.83%
2002	9.78%	0.82%
2003	3.45%	0.81%
2004	3.38%	0.81%
2005	3.33%	0.8%
2006	3.28%	0.79%
2007	3.24%	0.77%
2008	3.1%	0.76%
2009	3%	0.75%
2010	2.87%	0.73%
2011	2.72%	0.72%
2012	2.57%	0.7%
2013	2.41%	0.69%
2014	2.26%	0.68%
2015	2.14%	0.68%
2016	2.06%	0.67%
2017	1.91%	0.66%
2018	1.84%	0.65%
2019	1.77%	0.65%
2020	1.74%	0.65%
2021	1.74%	0.65%
2022	1.77%	0.65%
2023	1.8%	0.65%